


Colours Are Only Reflected Light

by orphan_account



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Aomine is a jerk who becomes less jerky, KagaKuro - Freeform, KiKasa - Freeform, Kise the shapeshifter, M/M, Mutants, i guess?, kuroko the invisible man, like the actual series, poor kuroko bby, super heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-09 09:58:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1978590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where the Generation of Miracles are mutants with amazing yet terrifying abilities, Kuroko Tetsuya must remind them of their original goals as heroes and protectors. At the same time Kise Ryouta meets Kasamatsu Yukio his upperclassman and possibly the only one to remind Kise that he is human too. KiseKasa, KagaKuro; superhero AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which a blond and two bluenets walk into an animal testing factory

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This isn't my first fic, but the first one posted on this site... I'm kinda nervous, hehe.

It was a usual night on the job: saving people, stopping crime. Whatever it was that Kise was supposed to be doing. It wasn’t as though he liked the night jobs! Seriously it was only thanks to whatever mutant system that was keeping him shifting, that Kise could spring out of bed in the morning without any bags under his eyes.

If he could choose, then he’d take the day shifts anytime. But unfortunately school got in the way and he could only take day shifts on weekends and holidays.

Kise crouched uncomfortably on the roof of some crumbling concrete office building as he waited for the apparent kidnappers to show up. He’d got the information off Akashicchi- or Red, as was his proper Miracle name. Akashicchi was never wrong about anything, and so no matter how sceptical Kise felt over the idea of kidnappers in Kanagawa he believed Akashicchi.

Kise sighed and considered turning his lower body into a couch or something, so that he could settle better. However experience made him realise that if he turned into a bright yellow, leather recliner couch here in the middle of the city, then any creeps sneaking around would be sure to notice. It was also unfortunately true that he couldn’t just continuously shift as it was very draining and he needed to prepare himself for possible fights later.

The air was musty and stale and each of Kise’s breaths came out in short choked huffs. He was beginning to feel light headed and sighed, he wasn’t sure whether he could afford to expend the energy but he knew he had to modify his lungs before he passed out. It was a problem with being a hero, after curfew the government turned off the air purifiers that stopped the toxic smog from poisoning every human outside. Of course in the houses people were expected to have their own air purifiers but in the streets…

Out of the thick darkness came the purr of one of the modern cars coming to a stop. Kise smiled proudly and stretched discreetly as he prepared himself to swoop down heroically, the blond was already imagining a helpless and terrified girl. He was going to save whichever poor damsel in distress who was being kidnapped and he was sure they were going to swoon. It was the usual deal anyway, he just hoped she wouldn’t faint.

* * *

Kuroko was hyper-aware of his surroundings as he slid back into the shadows. The large lab completely dwarfed his small body, the whole building was grey and unforgiving. And the teen hesitated wondering whether he was better off just going home.

But it was specifically a job from Akashi-kun and while they hadn’t been getting along at all since the end of middle-school, Kuroko was not going to refuse an order from their captain. The animal testing laboratory was located in the middle of Kanagawa and was apparently was experimenting on mutants, of all things. Kuroko wasn’t sure why this was his job, this was Kise-kun’s turf and he could certainly do stealthy with his shape-shifting ability.

Kuroko relaxed and calmed his presence until he was hardly distinguishable from the grey building behind him. He walked slowly toward the lab, keeping himself as small and unremarkable as possible. This was the hardest part, making his way past the security cameras.

Kuroko’s special ability was very unusual in the way that it hardly counted as a power at all. The blue haired boy’s talent was really just his complete lack of presence. With help from Akashi-kun, Kuroko had managed to learn to control his skill to the point where he could practically become invisible.

No-one else had ever noticed his ability, probably because no-one ever even noticed him, but with the strong observational skills of Momoi-san and Akashi-kun, Kuroko had somehow bloomed into his own hero. Of course he’d always worked better with Aomine-kun then on his own or even with Kise-kun, but they’d gone their separate ways now and Kuroko had to cope. He was known as The Shadow or the Phantom Sixth Man by anyone that had actually heard of him; but mostly he was rumour, a novel idea to make the Generation of Miracles into an even more legendary group of heroes.

It was five o’clock, the time when most of the workers from the lab were leaving and really Kuroko’s last chance to get inside without any ID. The trick, the teen thought as he slipped through the glass sliding doors, was to come in as others were coming out. In a crowd, he was even less likely to be seen and the doors being constantly opened were really his only chance of getting through without calling in favours from Akashi-kun. Kuroko allowed himself to be knocked around and accidentally shoved as he tried to remember every detail of the job he was supposed to be doing.

It was one of Teiko’s requested jobs and he was being paid quite a bit for it. The deal was a simple in and out, no witnesses and one body. Kuroko’s assigned hit was the captured mutant who was apparently so dangerous that Teiko didn’t want to risk allowing him to live. The blue haired teen was slightly sceptical of this, after all who could possibly be dangerous enough to threaten the school that had raised and developed the Generation of Miracles?

To be honest, Kuroko was unsure of the entire situation. If this mutant was supposed to be so dangerous, why didn’t they send someone more powerful to finish him? It wasn’t as though he hadn’t killed before, he was the invisible-man, the best choice to sneak up behind a distracted target and slit their throats. The most likely to get away even drenched in blood. It made him uncomfortable thinking about it. They were supposed to be heroes, not hired assassins!

They hadn’t been heroes for years now, and it seemed like it was only Kuroko who had realised it. This time span had almost been as long as the amount of time the Generation of Miracles had not been a team. When they had decided that focussing on individual strength was more important than working as a team.

Kuroko got into the steel elevator and waited patiently for it to fill up with tired businessmen and excited scientists. He couldn’t personally make his way to the floor that he wanted, as it required biological I.D. and not even Kuroko could fool a machine. So instead he waited hopefully for a worker to come in to the lift and press floor -12, the place where his hit was apparently being kept.

It was another thirty-four minutes before an important looking woman wearing a pristine lab-coat stepped in to the elevator and pressed the floor number that Kuroko was waiting for. Despite his calm exterior the boy let out a relieved sigh, he had been beginning to think that there wouldn’t be anyone going all the way down to that level. By that point there were only six people in the lift, including Kuroko and the lady-scientist, it wasn’t as though Kuroko was worried about his misdirection, as he like to call his lack of presence, running out. It always lasted at least forty minutes, and that was against opponents that were actually trying to see him. However it did put a certain stress on his mind which made his breaths come faster and perspiration dampen his palms.

The teen wiped his hands on his nondescript white button-up shirt and let out a shaky breath. Given that the woman had only just gotten into the lift, Kuroko had another forty minutes to follow her before she started noticing that there was someone with her. He tugged at his sleeve, there was a small knife hidden inside the loose cuffs with only one purpose.

Eventually the lift gave a soft ‘ding-ding’, signalling their arrival at Floor -12 and Kuroko got out quickly, shadowing the scientist and matching her brisk pace. The clack of her high-heeled shoes echoed eerily around the deserted floor and the boy felt distinctly uncomfortable. If he was alone with the scientist on that floor then he really did have to stick with her the entire time which was bad because his misdirection had already been in use for twenty minutes.

The entire floor was just blue wall on either side with pin-pads every few metres. Kuroko wondered how this was supposed to hold a mutant when there wasn’t even a single cell.

The scientist came to a stop in front of one of the many pin-pads and calmly tapped in a short code. To Kuroko’s surprise the segment of blue wall directly next to the woman made a great mechanical growling noise and slid up to reveal a large cell with thick glass completely covering the front of it. The inside was set up much like a hospital room with white walls and a simple bed of the same colour. Lying on that bed was a man, or rather a teenage boy, with dark red hair not unlike Akashi-kun’s. At the sound of the wall sliding up, he sat up slowly and blinked dumbly. Kuroko guessed that he had been drugged.

“Hello Taiga,” she said conversationally. “How have you been feeling? I’m sure not very well, the medication won’t wear off for another three or four hours… even for a Multi like yourself.”

Kuroko’s eyes widened minutely, this boy was a Multi, a mutant with more than one ability. No wonder Teiko wanted him dead! A Multi who wasn’t under their control was more like a time-bomb than a person.

He made his decision in less than a second.

While the woman was still prattling on at the drugged mutant Kuroko moved forward silently. Grabbing the woman by her dark hair, the mutant pulled her head back and exposed her neck to his small knife. “If it isn’t too much trouble, could you please open the glass?” Kuroko asked politely, ignoring her small gasp of fear. “Please do not scream or shout for help because if you do, I will kill you. Please do not try to press in an incorrect code to alert security of your predicament for the same reasons. I have friends who have already disabled the surveillance cameras on this floor so please do not try anything.”

“Yes- Yes, ok. Please don’t kill me,” she whimpered pathetically. Kuroko’s grimace of remorse couldn’t be seen by the scientist as she hurriedly pressed in the code. With a hiss the glass began to slide up and at the same moment the teen flipped the knife around and cracked the wooden hilt into her forehead. She wouldn’t stay out for long, he was sure, Kuroko was nowhere near as strong as some of his ex-teammates.

He dropped her limp body and walked into the cell, keeping a wary eye on the Multi. The red-head watched him looking surprisingly sober and Kuroko wondered if perhaps the drugs had worn off already.

“Are you…” the other teen scrunched up his face in confusion. “…hamburger?”

Ok, so maybe he was still a little high on drugs. Kuroko sighed and walked over to the red-haired boy, he was a high-school student probably and was wearing a sport uniform. The red, white and black colours seemed very familiar to the blue haired boy and as he drew closer Kuroko came to an unpleasant realisation. The uniform was Seirin’s, Kuroko’s own school. That meant that he was about to murder a boy from his own school, someone who was going to be announced dead in assembly.

But wait, that also meant that Kuroko probably knew this boy. He looked at the drugged teen carefully, he was either in Kuroko’s year or one of his upperclassmen. The red hair was definitely recognisable, in fact Kuroko remembered many classes when he’d struggled to see over the top of a tall red-haired teen’s head.

“…Kagami-kun?” Kuroko asked carefully. Immediately the boy raised his head and squinted at Kuroko.

“I kno’ ya? Who ya?” Kagami asked in a confused voice, voice slurred from the heavy medication which he had been drugged with.

Kuroko sighed, he wouldn’t be able to kill someone who was his own class-mate, it was too risky for when the police came calling. While he doubted they’d notice him, Teiko would be very unhappy if he took such a dangerous risk. Reluctantly, he took out his phone and turned it on.

Immediately his phone started ringing, the shrill sound making Kagami scrunch up his eyes and cover his ears, groaning. Kuroko answered the call with a quick glance at the caller.

“Momoi-san,” he said. Satsuki Momoi was the Generation of Miracle’s only female and was known for her terrifying intelligence and enormous crush on Kuroko. Her power was the ability to read mutant abilities just by touching the other person. While not a field skill, it was incredibly useful to Teiko and she was constantly busy.

“Tetsu-kun? Tetsu-kun!” Kuroko held the phone a little further way from his head as she practically screamed. “Tetsu-kun, have you killed him yet?”

“No Momoi-san, I was just about to,” he replied calmly. Kagami frowned and sat up. “Actually, we have another problem. You see-“

“She’s not talking ‘bout me, is she?” Kagami asked, faced scrunching up and making him resemble an angry baby more than anything.

Kuroko didn’t answer him and chose instead to explain the Seirin situation to Satsuki.

“Tetsu-kun, Tetsu-kun,” she interrupted, sounding relieved. “Dai-chan, I mean Aomine-kun, got the information wrong. Akashi-kun doesn’t want you to kill the mutant, he wants you to rescue him and take him back to his home.”

Kuroko paused thoughtfully. While it was better that he didn’t have to kill Kagami, it was going to be an issue if he was supposed to rescue him, when he hadn’t prepared for a rescue attempt at all. And then what? “Momoi-san,” he said carefully. “The mutant’s name is Kagami Taiga-kun, and according to a scientist that was… here earlier, he is a Multi.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, long enough for Kuroko to check his reception and Kagami to fall asleep. “Tetsu-kun,” she said finally. “I’m sending Aomine-kun over.”

* * *

It had been easy to take down the hired thugs, Kise thought as he dusted off his white and gold spandex. It was almost a pity, but he hadn’t been expecting much from them anyway, no one had lit a fire in him since he had first joined Teiko. Guns were nothing to someone who could make his skin harder than rock, and three out of the six men had attempted to run as soon as they had seen that their weapons had no effect on him. It hadn’t been difficult to beat them down once their backs were turned.

Kise turned and looked around the large, damp warehouse for the kidnapped girl. There was a large crate dropped haphazardly next to their car, but surely they wouldn’t put a person in a crate? The crate rocked slightly and Kise frowned. Ok, so perhaps someone was in that crate.

Kise turned his arm into a crowbar as he approached the crate; it was always an uncomfortable experience, turning his body into metal. The cold slippery feeling was enough to turn his stomach. With the crowbar he prised open the crate and put on his best smile for the poor girl who had been kidnapped and…

He paused and glanced at the person in the crate, “You aren’t a girl,” he said dumbly. The black haired teenage boy glared up at him, and shit, Kise had already made a bad impression on this kid. “Uh, pretend I said nothing,” Kise said guiltily as he pulled the boy out of the crate. His arms were tied behind him and his ankles together with a thick piece of rope and he had a strip of material in between his teeth. Despite the ache that was slowly setting into his bones, Kise shifted the crowbar into a knife and ignored the boy’s sudden attempts to get away as he noticed the metal appendage.

“Hello, I’m Yellow, of the Generation of Miracles, did you know that I’m the most popular Miracle? I guess people like me because I’m so handsome, hehe,” Kise greeted the kid brightly. “What’s your name?”

The boy glanced at him blankly, his large grey eyes calculating, “Kasamatsu Yukio” he said abruptly. “My name’s Kasamatsu Yukio and I have no idea who you are.”

“What, seriously? You don’t know who I am? I’m Yellow, the most sought after Miracle! And you’re just a nobody, be more thankful that I just rescued you, kid!” Kise exclaimed.

Kasamatsu’s response was to wack Kise over the head with one of his recently untied hands, “Idiot, I’m eighteen, probably older than a snot-nosed brat like you,” ignoring Kise’s sounds of outrage, Kasamatsu glanced around uncomfortably. “You did call the police, right?”

“Of course,” said Kise. The ‘and the newspapers’ was left unsaid. Kise was feeling a little cheated, he was expecting a cute girl, not some cranky, yet admittedly cute, teenage boy. Although at the moment Kise was trying to remember why exactly he’d been expecting a girl, since Akashicchi hadn’t specified.

“Why’re you so mean to me,” he whined. “I saved you!”

“Yeah, why did you do that anyway?” Kasamatsu asked.

Kise frowned, “Isn’t it obvious? I have to do at least one rescue per night so that the media is happy!”

For some reason Kasamatsu didn’t look impressed, instead he just sighed and sat down on the cold concrete ground, rubbing his forehead. “I was supposed to be home four hours ago,” he said. “Where are we anyway?”

Kise glanced around, “Uh, the warehouse out the back of an animal testing factory I think.”

“Why,” Kasamatsu asked looking confused. “Why me?”

“Good question,” Kise said. “Do you happen to be, uh, a mutant by any chance? I’ve heard that they’re experimenting on mutants here.”

“No! No I’m not,” the other teen assured. “But shouldn’t you, I don’t know, be doing something about that?”

“No….?” Kise replied, raising an eyebrow. “Why would I? No-body cares about mutant rescue; and if they’re really too weak to break free of some Normals then they don’t deserve to be called mutants.”

“I guess being a ‘hero’ isn’t about protecting the weak, then.”

There was a quiet screech of tires outside, impossible to hear if Kise hadn’t been listening out for them. “The police are here now,” he informed Kasamatsu, ignoring the other boy’s judging expression.

It was easy after that to pass Kasamatsu off to some policemen with a wave and a jokingly blown kiss. Kise quickly made his way over to the reporters and adjusted his yellow eye mask, pulling a beautiful smile for the cameras. The questions began pouring in and Kise answered every one as gracefully as he could, without another glance in Kasamatsu’s direction. He didn’t dare to spare the other boy another thought or he might actually start feeling guilty. He used to have emotions like guilt, but that was before the Generation of Miracles became stronger than anything he’d ever imagined, and anyone less powerful had been pathetic in his eyes.

“Yellow-san, do you know why this kidnapping occurred?”

Kise froze, plastic smile sliding off his face for a second, “Uh… we’re still, we’re still looking into that. I’ll have to get back to you on that,” he said quickly. But it did make him wonder, why had the older teen been kidnapped? It wasn’t like he had any orders to research that, and he reckoned the police could get some information out of the thugs Kise had knocked out. However, what was to stop it happening again? Of course the real question was, why was he even concerned over Kasamatsu, was it that his reprimands had actually left an impression on Kise?


	2. "Wait, don't I know you?" and other Kikasa stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami wakes up in a strange house and meets Kuroko Tetsuya, a boy who claims Kagami is a mutant. Meanwhile Kise goes back to school and bumps into an unexpected person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers or references to the Teiko arc, I guess? Basically subtle spoilers from the manga will be in this story, just a heads-up. 
> 
> In case anyone hasn't noticed, this story is set in a future full of pollution and corruption. The pollution in the air is so bad that many children are born disfigured or with unexplainable abilities.

_There was a long silence on the other end of the line, long enough for Kuroko to check his reception and Kagami to fall asleep. “Tetsu-kun,” she said finally, “I’m sending Aomine-kun over.”_

 

Kuroko frowned slightly and glanced at Kagami, who was snoring slightly. “Wait, Mo-“ He was cut off by a rush of air that caused the thick glass to crack and Kuroko to cover his face, grimacing.

 

“Yo, Tetsu,” Aomine said. His expression was impassive and he tugged on his singlet impatiently as though he’d rather be anywhere else.  

 

“Aomine-kun,” Kuroko greeted expressionlessly. While he’d always known Aomine’s ability of speed, it didn’t change how shocked he was at the amount that the other boy had advanced just in the few months since they’d been in Teiko. “This is Kagami-kun, he’s a Multi similar to yourself,” Kuroko explained.

 

The dark blue haired teen stretched and yawned, “Is that all?” he asked lazily, scratching at the shell of his ear. “Satsuki woke me up just for this, I can’t believe it.”

 

Aomine walked slowly over to Kagami, “What the hell, he’s asleep anyway. Couldn’t you deal with him, Tetsu?” he said frowning. When he got no response, the teen sighed and grabbed Kagami by the waist, throwing him over one shoulder. “I’ll see you at your house,” Aomine said. “Gimme the keys, would you?”

 

Kuroko held them out and with a metal jangle the two mutants were gone. He sighed, caught up in memories of a kinder Aomine Daiki. It wasn’t just Aomine that had changed, it was all the Miracles. But perhaps because of Kuroko’s closeness to the other boy, the loss of the younger Aomine was the one that Kuroko mourned most. It was definitely his power, he was fast, so fast that it seemed like he disappeared. His speed was what had led him to become separated from everyone else, differentiating him from a society that struggled and lagged behind.

 

Kuroko tiredly left the building knowing the Aomine was already at his house.

* * *

 

Kagami woke up in darkness lit only by a faint light glowing through a doorway. He was in a small room as far as he could tell, lying in a single bed with rough sheets. For some reason he was holding his arms up against the bed posts as he lay on his back. Kagami sat up quickly and winced at the loud _chink_ of metal that came from somewhere near his wrists. He was vaguely confused as to what he was doing in an unfamiliar house, but for some reason his head felt very heavy and he couldn’t think properly.

 

Kagami subconsciously tugged at the ring around his neck, feeling relieved that it was still there. He stepped out of the room quietly and followed the sound of hushed voices. He was bare footed as he walked down the wooden hallway to what he reckoned was a kitchen. Kagami paused in the doorway and looked out carefully. Sitting on tall stools in the kitchen was a strange sight.

 

A boy with dark blue hair was talking quickly and angrily to… to… Kagami squinted. Was he talking to himself? No, there was another boy there! Standing on the other side of the kitchen bench was a smaller teen who looked about thirteen and also had blue hair, though of a much lighter colour.

 

“Aomine-kun,” the small boy said. “Did you purposefully tell Momoi-san that I was to assassinate Kagami-kun?” His blue eyes were hard, sad and old.

 

Wait, what. They were talking about him? Talking about killing him?? Kagami blinked and shrunk back a little, he tried to put together coherent thoughts but his head made him feel like he’d been left out in the night air without a purifier for the last six hours.

 

“Who cares?” the boy named Aomine said tiredly. “As if Teiko is going to let him stay alive much longer unless he becomes their dog, like us.” He stood up, pushing the stool back to reveal his full height which was taller even than the red-head, and walked towards Kagami, “I’m leaving,” he said unnecessarily.

 

The light blue haired boy glanced down at his hands resting in his lap, “Aomine-kun, the purifiers aren’t on anymore. Do you need an air mask?”

 

“Nah,” Aomine said, waving his hand. “I can get home on one breath of air-“ he suddenly noticed Kagami standing in the doorway. “Hey Tetsu, Sleeping Beauty’s awake,” he said smirking. The boy named Tetsu jumped to his feet and rushed over, “Kagami-kun?” he asked.

 

“Uhm,” said Kagami backing away quickly, “You aren’t going to kill me are you?”  

 

“He aint, anymore,” Aomine said, though his tone of voice wasn’t very reassuring. Kagami was sceptical of Tetsu’s ability to hurt him at all anyway, but given Aomine’s presence in the room, decided not to voice this.

 

“Forgive me, I don’t think you’ve been introduced yet,” said Tetsu. “My name is Kuroko Tetsuya and this is Aomine Daiki, we’re from Teiko Middle School.” As he said the name of his school, Kuroko’s eyes were trained carefully on Kagami as though it was some kind of code that he was supposed to understand.

 

“Uh, I don’t know Teiko. I’m from America, see. I’ve only been back in Japan a couple of months,” Kagami admitted. Kuroko looked disappointed for a moment and his eyes dropped down to Kagami’s wrists. “Wait,” said Kuroko. “Aomine-kun, didn’t we restrain him?”

 

Aomine glanced back from the doorway, “Uh, yeah. With Satsuki’s handcuffs.” To why Satsuki Momoi had a full range of different types of handcuffs, it was never explained.

 

“Huh,” Kagami glanced down at his wrists and was surprised to see them encased in metal rings with short pieces of chain hanging off them. “What’s this?” he asked, hooking his finger under the metal bracelet and ripping it off as easily as paper. Kuroko and Aomine glanced at each other, “Strength?” Kuroko asked cryptically.

 

Aomine laughed and ran a hand through his short hair. “Ok I’m leaving, Tetsu,” he said, turning toward the door. Kagami noticed that he hadn’t bothered to take his shoes off. “Akashi wants to see that guy on Saturday.” He almost seemed to disappear and the door closed with a loud slam that shook it on its hinges. There was silence except for the quiet ‘whirr’ of the air purifier. Kagami twitched, he’d been patient waiting for an answer but this was more than he could bare.

 

“Ok, what the hell is going on?” he growled, only to find that Kuroko had already left him standing in the short hallway by himself. Kagami hurried back down to the kitchen and saw Kuroko stirring a pot of Congee with his bangs brushed back under a headband. He glanced at Kagami with his creepy blue eyes and Kagami thought that he looked strangely cute with his pale forehead exposed. “I am making Congee,” he said unnecessarily. “It is a savoury rice porridge.”

 

“I know that,” Kagami said. “I mean, what the hell am I doing at your house? And, uh… why was I restrained? Where am I? Should I be calling the police or someth’n?”

 

“Please do not do that, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko replied. “You are here because we rescued you from a mutant research lab masquerading as a cosmetic research facility. Since you are a mutant, we were unsure of your abilities and thought it would be best to restrain you, although it is now obvious what they are.”

 

Kagami rubbed his forehead and slammed his hand against the bench, “What do you mean, a mutant?”

 

“You are a mutant, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said slowly, as though Kagami was a simple child. “Or were you not aware of that information?”

 

Kagami heard something crack as he put more pressure on the table. A mutant? There was no way he was one of those freaks, monsters, where out of every two, one had to be put down because they were born hideous and dangerous, often without a brain. “I- Why should I believe you?”

 

Kuroko looked down at the table as though it held the answer and Kagami followed his gaze, immediately he jumped back in shock. Several large, dark cracks were running through the wood from two large indentations of hands, right where his own had been. Kagami swore and Kuroko looked on impassively, almost curiously.

 

“You were kidnapped for a reason,” Kuroko told him. “Do you have any idea why?”

 

Kagami tried to think back; he’d been walking home from school on Friday when… when…

 

“It’s Friday right… wait what day is it?” Kagami asked blearily.

 

“The first of May, twenty-two o’clock, it is a Monday,” Kuroko droned robotically.

 

Kagami felt queer, he was missing time, a whole weekend in fact, and he couldn’t remember the end of his Friday either.

 

As if following the same line of though, Kuroko asked, “Do you recall anything at all from the day you were kidnapped?”

 

Kagami thought back furiously, as though remembering at least a little thing would solve all of his problems. The teen looked up into the warm yellow glow of the kitchen light and remembered another yellow, but it hadn’t just been a yellow, “Uh, yeah, there was this kid. He had like, mismatched eyes or something,” Kagami absentmindedly waved his hand at his eyes, so caught up in is thoughts that he didn’t see the slowly dawning horror on Kuroko’s young face.           

* * *

“Kise-kun, Kise-kuuun~!”

 

Kise grimaced and quickly ducked into the boys bathroom. He wasn’t quite sure that going into there would discourage his fangirls, and was almost certain that since starting at Kaijo his following had doubled in mass. He couldn’t even stretch in class anymore without a collective sigh going around his female and sometimes male audience, it was disconcerting to say the least.

 

When he was sure that the rampaging mass had passed (it wasn’t as though he disliked his fans! There were just so many), the blond braved the hallway and sighed tiredly. He really had spent too much time thinking about the cranky teen from the night previous. Seriously, what was his problem! Kise was famous, both as a model and as a hero, although not many were aware of both identities.

 

And this guy was, was-

 

Lost in his thoughts, Kise bumped straight into a student, “Oh sorry, sorry,” he said, laughing easily as he helped the other up. This guy was…

 

Well shit, that guy was standing right in front of him.

 

“Kasamatsu?” he yelped. Immediately he regretted shouting out the boy’s name, what if Kasamatsu made a connection between him and Yellow? There weren’t any that would know his name at first guess.

 

Instead of reacting as Kise feared, the blond was hit over the head for the second time in twenty-four hours. “That’s Kasamatsu- _senpai_ to you, brat,” was the only reply he got from the angry senior. He looked exactly as he did the night before: irritated, tetchy and definitely on high alert. Kise didn’t blame him, for being kidnapped the day before, the blond was surprised the older boy had even come to school. That didn’t make Kise less annoyed at his treatment.

 

“Hey, who do you think you’re hitting,” he complained. “I’m Kise Ryo~kun, a model!”

 

For all his trouble, Kise only was hit over the head again.

 

“Who cares,” Kasamatsu said, annoyed. “Honestly, why do I have to keep running into sparkly weirdoes with egos three times their brain cell count?”

 

Dreadfully, Kise realised that Kasamatsu was comparing him to Yellow. That was bad, he’d never had a conversation with someone as Yellow and then met them as Kise Ryouta unless he’d done it on purpose, “Sorry, senpai,” he said quickly. Noticing Kasamatsu’s dropped books, Kise hastened to pick them up, “I’ll get your books!” he told Kasamatsu cheerfully.

 

Kasamatsu looked sceptical and his grey eyes followed Kise carefully as the blond straightened back up, “Uh, thanks I guess, freshman,” he said. If Kise was a dog, then embarrassingly enough, he reckoned his tail would be wagging happily by that point. Kasamatsu turned abruptly and left Kise standing in the middle of the hall, staring ridiculously. He wasn’t sure what it was, but perhaps not being coddled or fawned over for once was actually a nice feeling.

 

He winced and rubbed his abused head, well maybe it wasn’t that much of a nice feeling.

* * *

“Ok, ok, how about this one,” Moriyama said excitedly. He pulled a desperate expression, “Help, something’s wrong with my eyes - I just can't take them off you.”

 

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and glared at Kobori accusingly, “This is your fault,” he said.

 

“No, no, no, I think it was a _great_ idea!” Moriyama said. “Getting you to rate my pick-up lines, you’re probably the most oblivious and blunt person I know! So come on, what d’you think?”

 

“Zero out of ten,” Kasamatsu deadpanned, ignoring his friend’s cry of dismay. “You’re hopeless enough as it is, no need to add a desperate expression to it,” he knew he shouldn’t talk, he was definitely  worse than Moriyama at picking up girls. But he wasn’t the one trying to pick up girls!

 

“Ok, ok,” Moriyama said quickly. “How about this one: ‘Are you the lily of the evergreen fields, kissed not by the touch of man? Because your scent allures me like no other rich spice. I would follow you to the end of the world, please be mine. Without your sweet touch, I will surely perish’.”

 

There was an awkward silence, and then, “Ew,” Kasamatsu said, most likely voicing the ever quiet Kobori’s own thoughts. “That doesn’t suit you at all, you sound like a dog or something. Uh, one out of ten, if only for the fact that you can say that with a straight face.”

 

“Well what do you think’s a better one for me, then?” Moriyama returned, pouting disturbingly.

 

Kasamatsu thought for a moment, “I’m single and desolate. Can you help me?” he said dryly.

 

Moriyama tapped a finger against his chin thoughtfully, “Your delivery of the line could do with some improvement, try dropping onto one knee while delivering,” he said helpfully as he did just that. Kasamatsu responded by kicking him soundly in the face.

 

“It’s not like I would ever use it, idiot,” he said exasperatedly.

 

“Probably because you can’t even talk to girls,” Moriyama suggested casually. At the mention of girls, Kasamatsu’s face went red and he made a choked coughing noise. “A- Anyway,” he said, quick to change the subject. “Do you know anything about, uh, this weirdo calling himself Yellow?” he tried to phrase the question as casually as he could.

 

“Ah, is that the true reason that you chose to grace us with your delightfully crabby self?” Moriyama asked gracefully as he went to slouch at his desk. Kasamatsu frowned and deliberately left the room to dump his bag outside before walking back over to the two boys.

 

“Yes,” he said simply.

 

Moriyama laughed and glanced at Kobori momentarily, “That would be Yellow of the Generation of Miracles, I’m guessing?”

 

Kasamatsu thought of sitting down at Yui-san’s desk who sat next to Moriyama, it was already six o’clock, with the three boys staying after school to do extra revision, it was extremely unlikely that she would be back until the next morning. However it was a girl’s desk, and Kasamatsu stayed well away from anything that had to do with girls. He instead chose to sit diagonally behind his friend, who was watching him bemusedly. Kasamatsu realised that he’d been asked a question.

 

“Yeah, I guess that would be the one,” he said, not quite remembering the whiny hero’s speech from the night before.

 

“He’s the Yellow Miracle,” Moriyama said obviously. “I think he’s the shape-shifter? Yeah, he’s the shape-shifter. He can copy the form of anyone or anything with just one glance.”

 

Attempting to feign indifference, Kasamatsu asked, “So what’s this ‘Generation of Miracles’, then?”

 

“I can’t believe you don’t know this, seriously have you been living under a rock your whole life?” Moriyama asked cheerfully. “The Generation of Miracles are like celebrity mutants, they’re the only reason the government hasn’t gone through and torched all the freaks. They’re like police-men or something, only they’re supposedly not working with the government so they can bash up the ‘bad guys’. Those guys are legends, do you want me to go into detail on each one?” with Kasamatsu’s nod of consent, Moriyama began.

 

“There are the mutants like Blue, their ‘ace’, he’s so fast it looks like he teleports almost. There’s also Green, I can’t remember what he does, and then of course Yellow,” he paused thoughtfully as he held up three fingers, counting. “There’s also Pink, I guess, but she isn’t really included in the proper Miracles. Probably because she doesn’t have any offensive abilities,” he wiped imaginary tears from his eyes as the air erupted in pink sparkles around him. “A beautiful girl like that-“

 

Kasamatsu helpfully silenced his friend with a strong kick to the lower back, “We were talking about Miracles,” he reminded Moriyama.

 

His friend grimaced as Kobori helped him back up, “Yeah, Pink,” he said and held up his hands defensively. “Calm down, I was just about to talk about her abilities. I don’t quite know, but I think it only applies to mutants. She like, reads their power and can analysis how it will develop in the future. And then there’s Red and Purple, they aren’t even mutants. Purple was a normal human, only an experiment of some rebel group. They gave him this ability to turn into a giant, or a Titan if you’re a Shingeki no Kyojin fan,” he shook his head disappointed, when Kasamatsu didn’t understand the reference.

 

“And Red?” Kobori asked quietly.

 

“ have no idea,” Moriyama said with a shrug. “Honestly don’t you guys read the magazines? They’re from Teiko, that mutant school… everyone knows about them, they’re heroes. And especially Yellow, he’s the most popular Miracle.”

 

Kasamatsu was reminded of Yellow’s words from the previous night and felt slightly queasy, “They don’t seem like heroes to me,” he said bluntly. “Their goals, morals, none of it’s right. And Yellow is a total douche-bag, does he even have real fans?”

 

Kobori and Moriyama annoyingly shared another long knowing glance, and Kasamatsu scowled.

 

“Hey Kasamatsu,” Kobori said carefully. “Where were you yesterday?”

 

Kasamatsu froze, wait, he _had_ missed school the day before, hadn’t he. It had been actually on the way to school that he’d been kidnapped, and he still hadn’t quite worked out where his bag had gone. He bit his lip trying to work out the best answer to give them as well as trying to stem the slight burst of panic that he felt when he remember the events of the day before.

 

“I was sick,” he said quickly, defensively. “I have to leave now,” he added and stood up abruptly, not wanting to see his friend’s sceptical expressions. The issue with having practically spent his entire education with Kobori and Moriyama meant that they could read him better than anyone else, and vice versa. He glanced outside to see the rapidly darkening sky and felt a stab of fear race through him, making his hands shake.

 

What if it happened _again_?

 

He was being paranoid and irrational, he knew. But Kasamatsu couldn’t shake the fear of the day before, and how was he going to make it home? He picked his school bag off the floor next to the 3rd year classroom and swung it over his shoulder glumly. Quickly the teen walked down the corridor, not looking anywhere other than his feet. He picked up his pace, wondering if he could run home and-

 

“Ouch!” for the second time in the day, Kasamatsu bumped painfully into another student.

 

“Sorry, sorry, uh… wait, Kasamatsu-senpai?”

 

Kasamatsu glanced up, and _wow_ he really had to look up a lot. A pretty (although for some reason he looked like he was fearing for his life) blond boy met his gaze and laughed uncertainly. Although pretty seemed to be a weird word to describe a six foot-plus guy, who looked like he was a basketball player, it was really the only word to describe the teen.

 

“Who are you,” Kasamatsu asked blankly. The boy’s apologetic face melted into some weird kind of fake cry.

 

“Whaaat, you don’t remember me?? But you bumped into me earlier!” he complained. “I’m Kise, remember? Kise Ryouta!”

 

“Oh, the sparkly model,” Kasamatsu said in realisation.       

 

“Yes, that’s righ- wait, sparkly?”

 

Kasamatsu ignored him and side stepped the blond walking briskly toward the south exit of the school.

 

“Hey, hey, wait!” Kise ran to keep up with him, “Senpai, if you’re going this way, then does that mean that you’re taking a train from the Shin-Yokohama station? I take a train from there too! Senpai, Senpai, let’s go home together!”

 

“No,” replied Kasamatsu.

 

“What?” Kise asked bewildered, as though he’d never been refused before.

 

“I don’t want to walk with you,” Kasamatsu said, irritated as he walked subtly faster. He reached the south exit and walked out into cool blackness, taking a deep breath. It had been Sunday evening when he’d been grabbed walking home from cram school. It had been as dark then as now, and he’d been alone and-

 

“Senpaaaiii!!” Kise wailed, “Senpai, you can’t leave your kouhai to walk home on his own, that’s dangerous!”

 

Kasamatsu scowled, “Hurry up,” he called over his shoulder. Seriously who was this weird kid anyway- when someone hits you, it isn’t common to try follow them home.

 

“Wait, seriously? You’re actually letting me walk with you?” Kise asked, bewildered.

 

The older teen didn’t reply, the train station was just at the end of the street. He glanced at his watch, it was ten-past six and the trains ran every ten minutes until seven o’clock, so he had plenty of time. He walked up the concrete steps and turned back to wait for the weird freshman, the blond had broken into a slight jog to catch up. Not that he would ever, ever admit it, but Kasamatsu was feeling extremely paranoid. And after abandoning Moriyama and Kobori, it was somewhat comforting to have another person with him.

* * *

Kise dropped into one of the only remaining train seats, which happened to be across from Kasamatsu, and beamed at the frowning teen. It was really weird, seeing Kasamatsu again, yet the other boy not being aware that they had met any earlier then that very day. Kise was following Kasamatsu because he was curious and to be completely honest, slightly concerned. He’d been rescued only the previous day, yet he was travelling home alone at this time of day? Wasn’t he even slightly worried?

 

The fact remained that Kise had no idea who it was that had grabbed the other boy, nor their reasons. He was aware that the police weren’t interested at all, as long as the case was solved then they were happy. With all of the criminal activity going on, especially leaking over from Rakuzan in Kyoto, they were too distracted. Even Akashi was having trouble dealing with it.

 

“So, Kasamatsu, how has school been as a 3rd year?” Kise asked awkwardly, raising his voice over the sound of others. The train was not as cramped as it would have been an hour ago, with many people coming home from work; it was also not as crowded as it would be in another two hours, the curfew always had the public transport overflowing with panicking civilians trying to get into a purified area. He sighed, the pollution was out of control in the cities.

 

Kasamatsu frowned further at the question and Kise resisted the urge to lecture the other on skin care and premature wrinkles, “Fine, normal… uh how’s high-school been for you so far?”

 

Kise grinned, “Eh, it’s been alright, the girls are so nice! But the work is really hard, and I have to balance it with my modelling too!”

 

His senior rolled his eyes and leaned back, slouching slightly in the plastic chair, “Brat,” he said.

 

“I am not a brat!” Kise exclaimed. “I’ll have you know that- oh wait, this is my stop!” He jumped up as the train came to a stop and turned to say goodbye to Kasamatsu. However the other boy stood up too, “This is my stop as well,” he explained, glaring at Kise suspiciously.

 

The two teens got off the train and walked briskly down the main street, dodging the occasional hover bike. Kise stared after them admiringly, “Those are really nice, I think I want one!”

 

“They’re really expensive, though.”

 

Kise blinked, surprised that he’d actually got a non-insulting response from Kasamatsu. “I can always get my parents to buy it,” he reasoned. Confused to see the disgusted look on the smaller boy’s face as he looked over at Kise. It was gone after a moment, replaced with neutral indifference.

 

“Do you live with your parents?” Kasamatsu asked.

 

“Ah, no. I moved out this year because they live in Tokyo and I got an offer at Kaijo. In fact, I live right over-“

 

“What?” Kasamatsu asked, as he walked up the short flight of stairs to the door of Kise’s apartment block and pulled out keys to the apartment directly opposite the blond’s.

 

“I’mseriouslynotstalkingyou,” Kise said in a rush as he pulled out his own keys.

 

“Just my luck,” Kasamatsu said, and walked into the complex without glancing behind him. Kise followed his senior down the hall and up the staircase. By the time he had reached the top of the slippery stone stairs, Kasamatsu was already unlocking his own door. Surprisingly as he opened it there was a chorus of ‘Yuki-nii’ and ‘nii-san’ which was quickly hushed as he stepped into the apartment.

 

Kise paused at the top of the stairs, trying to work out exactly what had happened. _Was that guy a hit-man or something?_

 

He mulled over the thought as he walked over to apartment 206, almost directly opposite to Kasamatsu’s 205, if it was true then he definitely had a problem. He fumbled slightly with the lock before walking quickly into his apartment, he was really tired. Having barely three hours sleep, Kise was running on more canned coffee then food. He couldn’t wait to just have a long shower and…

 

“Yoo, Kise-chin~”

 

Kise gaped, “Murasakibaracchi?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”

 

The giant purple haired boy stretched on Kise’s bed, his long limbs extending powerfully, “Aka-chin called me here for a meeting, he’ll tell ya tomorrow,” he pouted. “We need to put out a burning building noww, but I’m hungrryy,” he said in his lazily sing-song voice. Kise grimaced and went to the cupboard to find candy.

 

He doubted he’d be getting any sleep at all.  

      

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will happen weekly. And yes, the GoM's hero names are their colours. Please comment/review, constructive criticism greatly encouraged


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